I just recently searched for information on autism and learned a lot. I feel for the parents, but today there is so much help out there. When I was kid they didn’t even have a clue.
The parents could be in denial. I know someone with a mentally ill son. She won’t admit how bad it is, refers to his behaviors as “quirks” even though at least 4 psychiatrists have agreed he has obsessive compulsive disorder and is bipolar. She sabotages his meds because she worries about side effects and the first instance he experiences anything like one she wants him off that medicine. The parents of the boy in the article could be contributing to the son’s problems.